MOSCOW, January 19 (RAPSI, Diana Gutsul) – The sister of Russian national Vladimir Klimov, who had been sentenced to 15 years in jail and later died with cancer in prison, has filed a claim seeking 1 million rubles ($13,000) from the Finance Ministry in compensation for moral suffering, lawyer Anastasia Kopteyeva told RAPSI on Tuesday.

A judge during the hearing ruled to commission a forensic medical examination.

Klimov’s diagnosis – an inoperable kidney cancer – is on the government list of diseases that preclude prison sentences, Kopteyeva said. However, courts several times rejected his motion for release.

In 2014, human rights advocates filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over failure to provide medical assistance to Klimov in the colony.

Klimov died in prison on April 8, 2015, three weeks after the court again refused to release him. Before his passing, Klimov and his lawyer filed appeals against the decision of the Ingodinsky District Court in Chita. A month after his death, the Trans-Baikal Territory Court reversed the lower court’s decision and granted medical parole for Klimov.

Klimov’s case has been closed due to his death.